


This Isn't What it Looks Like

by bluecinderella4



Series: Descendants Sitcomed [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-02 01:18:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20267662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluecinderella4/pseuds/bluecinderella4
Summary: While practicing her new fortune telling skills on her friends, Mal has a rather unsettling vision. She tries assuring herself it won't come true, but then the visions she had for her other friends come to fruition. Determined to stop the final vision from happening, The Core Four come up with a plan and put it into action only to get some very interesting results.





	1. Believe Me, We Noticed

**Author's Note:**

> Plot loosely based on "The Nanny" season 6 episode "The Baby Shower" fit to "Descendants" canon.

With a frustrated shriek, Mal threw a large pile of books on table where her friends had gathered (subsequently startling them). "Forget the Isle of the Lost," she sat down with a huff, "there is no place more evil and terrifying than magic grad school," this made her companions snicker until she shot them her death glare. "Please tell me one of you guys-" Jay cut her off by presenting her with strawberries. "Thank you!"

"Not that it was easy keeping them away from Miss 'Oh Please Let Me Have Just One'," Jay had diverted his head tilt toward Evie. "So let me thank you ladies in advanced for the next upcoming bruise on my arm."

"You'll live," Mal passed a strawberry to Evie.

"Thank you, Mal," Evie thanked her gal pal before giving Jay the side-eye. "At least _someone_ here has manners."

"You shoved me off the table because I wouldn't let you have a strawberry!" Jay defended.

"Well I'm eating for two now!"

"Believe me, we've noticed."

"Choose your words carefully, Jay," Mal warned as Evie let out an indignant gasp.

"I meant it like she keeps using the fact that she's pregnant as an excuse get away with things more; it's not like I meant she eats more or that she's gotten fatter." Mal wasn't surprised when Evie shoved him again. "OW!"

"Next time use the word 'bigger'," Mal gave her friend another strawberry. "How are you feeling today, E?"

"Tired, sore, and really, really hungry," Evie dipped her strawberry in some of Carlos' chocolate pudding, "Same as yesterday and the day before that and more than likely tomorrow."

"Yeah, but it'll all be over in three more weeks."

"Hopefully sooner," she let out a satisfied moan when she bit into her strawberry.

"So Mal," Carlos decided to change topics, "how were your classes today?"

"The worst," Mal sighed. "If Auradon wasn't all about being fair, I would use my queenly advantage to have the professors go easy on me."

"I'm sure they weren't all _that_ bad."

"Actually, I have been improving in my fortune telling class. Today I had my first _successful_ vision of the future."

"That's great!"

"Granted it was my own and it was just Ben and I kissing during a starry night, but it's still an accomplishment. I'm kinda getting the hang of it, but Professor Merlin wants us to go out and practice on more people and I don't know if I'm ready yet."

"We're more people! Do us!"

"Guys-" soon Jay and Evie were joining in on Carlos' pleas. "Okay, fine!" She turned to the person on her left. "Carlos, give me your hands, palms up." An excited Carlos placed his hands in hers. "Ready?" Carlos nodded. "Okay," Mal closed her eyes. "I see…I see…."

"How can you see with your eyes closed?"

"Ssh!"

"Sorry."

"I see…well that doesn't make sense."

"Heh?"

"Since when do you have a pink jacket?"

Carlos blinked in surprise. "I don't have a pink jacket."

"Well you're definitely wearing a pink jacket. Wait…you're turning towards someone. You point your finger and you say something."

"What am I saying?"

"I don't know. For these visions I can only see things, not hear. You're saying it kinda slow though…and then you get into the backseat of a nearby limo."

"A limo? Like one of Ben's limos?"

"It does look familiar," Mal opened her eyes. "I just wish I could piece it all together and make it make sense. Who were you talking to and why were you getting into a potentially royal limo?"

"And why do I have a pink jacket?"

"Me next," Jay thrusted his hand at Mal. "And lemme know if you see a pretty, pink purse to match Carlos' pretty, pink jacket."

"C'mon, man!"

Mal closed her eyes and began reading Jay's palms. "I see…well that seems really generic."

Jay looked at everyone else for some sort of clue, but Carlos and Evie simply shrugged. "Generic is good, right?"

"Generic just means boring."

"Boring?"

"It's you playing in a Tourney game and winning."

"That's it?"

Mal opened her eyes. "Yeah, that's all I saw. You scored the winning shot and your team lifted you in the victory huddle."

"How come his vision was something simple and easy?" Carlos questioned.

"Yeah, but at least yours sounds interesting," Jay replied back. "It sounds like a fifty-fifty for all Tourney games I play."

"Except Mal saw one where you win."

"But did you see anything else, Mal?" Jay inquired. "Like a scoreboard or what team I was against? Are you sure it's one I haven't played yet."

"Honestly, Jay," Mal began, "I'm happy you're playing professionally and you're a superstar and all that, but I really don't care. All the games seem the same to me. The other guys were in green, if that helps."

"The Sherwood Falcons?"

"Again, Jay, don't care."

"I got a game against that team tonight. You think that's the one you saw?"

"I don't know; I'd have to go and be sure."

"Okay, so come to the game tonight."

"Ugh, but I just don't care!"

"But how will you know if the vision comes true if you don't see for yourself?"

Mal sighed. "Okay fine, I'll go."

"I'll pull some strings for V.I.P. seats."

"Yippee," Mal was obviously sarcastic.

"You're next, Evie."

While Mal held out her hands to her best friend, Evie hesitated. "I don't know."

"We're just doing this for fun, E."

"But what if you see something really bad?"

"The future's not set in stone, you know. None of these visions are specific or anything; they're all kinda vague and open to interpretation."

"Come on Evie," Carlos attempted to persuade her. "We all did it; it's your turn."

Evie reluctantly brought her hands toward Mal. "Nothing's definite," she whispered to herself as Mal read her palm. After a few moments of silence, Evie broke it. "She's not saying anything."

"Maybe she can't see anything for you yet."

"Mal?" Mal's eyes opened wide. "Mal, did you see anything?" Evie's hand went to her swollen stomach. "Is something wrong with my baby?"

"NO!" Mal responded rather loudly despite it being assuring. "No, what I saw had nothing to do with the baby."

"Thank goodness," Evie let out a relieved breath before getting back on the subject. "So you did see something?"

"Remember what I said about the future not being set in stone or definite or-"

"What did you see?"

"Well you were in your workroom working on a dress when someone walked in."

"Was it Doug?"

"No, it was someone that even I can't believe."

An interested Jay leaned forward. "Don't keep us in suspense!"

"Yeah," Carlos was equally curious, "who'd you see?"

Mal let out a deep breath. "I saw…" she paused for dramatic effect before breaking out into a grin, "…Uma!"

"Uma?!" it was evident the other three were surprised.

"And she asked you for a dress!"

"_Uma_?!"

"I know! I mean that really took me by surprise and just seems so unlike her—unless she's plotting on seducing someone at a ball or cotillion. Come on: that can NOT be real." Mal sighed. "I guess I don't really have the hang of this future-telling yet."

Evie patted Mal's hands. "Don't worry: you'll get better at your vision predictions." A buzz went off on Evie's phone. "Ugh," she rolled her eyes, "Dizzy just texted me that Chad is having another 'fashion emergency' and is demanding me to put in an appearance."

"He is your best customer."

"Sad, but true," Evie struggled to get up.

"Here," Carlos ran to help her, "let's get you up."

"Thank you, Carlos," she glared toward Jay. "At least _someone_ is a gentleman."

Jay gave an irritated groan. "Well maybe if you warned me you were getting up, I could've helped."

"Bye guys," Evie waved goodbye as she headed off, her friends chorusing their goodbyes behind her.

"She seemed slightly more normal today," Carlos noted.

"That's because poor Doug is bearing the brunt of the hormone monster," Jay explained.

"Poor Doug," Mal's tone was bitter. "He deserves everything bad to happen to him after the vision I just saw."

"What does Doug have to do with Uma going into Evie's shop?"

"I didn't see Uma going into Evie's shop," Mal confessed. "My real vision for Evie was way different."

Carlos took Evie's former place beside Jay. "Was it really a vision with Doug?"

"You guys have to swear that what I'm about to tell you doesn't get back to Evie. This is just between the three of us."

"And you're telling me?" Carlos had a point. He wasn't exactly the best secret keeper.

"I have to tell someone soon or I'll burst."

"Must've been something bad," Jay deduced.

"I saw Doug in a bed that _wasn't_ his with someone who definitely _wasn't_ Evie." The boys gasped at this. "He had mouth open like this," Mal demonstrated with a jaw drop, "almost as if he was caught in the act."

"The act of betrayal!" Jay slammed his fist on the table.

"There's no way," Carlos refused to believe it. "Doug loves Evie more than anything. He would never do that to her; especially when they're having a baby. You think he was under a spell or something?"

"I have no way of knowing," Mal told them. "All of these visions were vague and I didn't hear anything."

"But you can _see_ things," Jay pointed out. "So did you see who it was?"

Mal shook her head. "No, and I have no idea who she could be."

"What did she look like?"

"She had long, dark hair covering her face and the blanket on the bed was thrown over her lap almost like it was put there in a haste. Whoever she is: she had a nice pair of legs on her."

"She sounds pretty," Carlos felt the need to comment.

"Like Doug, the son of Dopey, could attract a _pretty_ girl," Jay's reasoning had a playful humor in the tone.

"He's a really nice guy; girls like nice guys. He was nice to us when we first got here and fell in love with Evie for who she was."

"The dude had the hots for her the moment he laid eyes on her."

"Well that's 'cause Evie's pretty."

"Aren't you engaged to Jane?"

"Can I still think my lady friends are pretty?"

"Guys!" Mal tried to deviate the conversation back on track. "What are we gonna do?" They all tried to think. "Anything?"

"Nope."

Jay was in agreement with Carlos. "Nada."

"Maybe we should just tell-"'

Mal cut him off. "Do NOT finish that thought."

"-tell Evie."

"Carlos!"

"I stopped thinking about my suggestion, but I had to finish saying it. That is what you thought I was gonna say, right?"

"Yeah."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Even I knew you were headed with that."

A conflicted Carlos groaned in frustration. "Well why can't we tell Evie? It was when you read _her_ palm so it kinda concerns her. Who knows: it's not like she'd believe it anyway."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"This pregnancy has made Evie really emotional," Mal stated the case. "The hormone monster has her convinced Doug isn't attracted to her and therefore doesn't love her anymore. So the fact that I had a vision of Doug in bed with another woman probably doesn't help our case."

Carlos tried to be optimistic. "Well maybe your vision won't come true."

"You think so?" Mal couldn't help but sound hopeful.

"I mean…" Carlos gestured to his outfit, "…you really think I'd wear a _pink_ jacket?"

"Or that _Uma_ would willingly wear a dress," Jay added.

"The visions were kinda vague and you couldn't hear anything so maybe you weren't exactly doing it right."

"You even said this was just for fun."

Mal folded her arms and quirked her brow toward Jay. "Do you find anything fun about seeing your pregnant best friend's true love in bed with another woman?"

"Not with that tone, you don't."

"Jay!"

"Lighten up," he stood up. "Now come on: you and I have a game to get to."

"Do I still have to do that?"

"You want to know if your 'looking into the future thing' is right, don't you?"

"Can we just say I went and-"

"Mal."

Mal gave a defeated sigh. "Okay fine," she rose from her seat, "but I want the full V.I.P. treatment."

"Only the best of the best for Her Royal Purpleness," he held out his arm for her to take and together they walked off.

Carlos reached for a left behind strawberry and dipped it in his pudding. "My 'Royal Purpleness' nickname catches on so much better than his 'hormone monster' one."


	2. You and Your Flattery

"Oh come on," Jay slid a glass with a pink drink over to his gloomy looking friend, "celebrate! We beat the Falcons!"

"Yeah, I saw," Mal didn't seem in a celebratory mood. "Twice now."

He sat next to her. "So that was your vision?" Mal nodded. "That's great; it means your future testing thing work."

"Great?! This is the opposite of great! This is…" a frazzled Mal was at a loss for words, "…not great!"

"Oh-kay."

"Not great, Jay!"

"You're still worried about Evie's vision thing happening? Chillax, it probably won't."

"But we don't know that for sure."

"C'mon, Mal: you said my vision thing was so generous-"

"Generic"

"-that it seemed inevitable." Mal looked at him in surprise. "I've expanded my vocabulary since Auradon."

"You just confused 'generic' with 'generous'!"

"Got your mind off Evie and Doug for a sec." A small smile escaped Mal. "Worrying won't do you no good."

"Double negative."

"Get your mind off this future telling thing. Everything's gonna be okay."

Mal gave her friend a side hug. "Thanks for trying, Jay."

"Why don't you give something else a try?" Jay pushed the pink drink closer to her. "It's strawberry flavored."

"You had me at strawberry."

…

"Her Royal Majesty, Queen Mal," the herald announced.

"Ssh," Mal quieted the guy. "Is that really necessary?"

"It is my duty to announce when the king and queen enter."

"Duty quietly," she shuffled over to the table where her husband sat. "I'd kiss you, but I just threw up."

"That strawberry drink again," Ben instinctively knew. "Always your go-to."

"Jay and I were celebrating."

"I heard the Knights won yesterday's game. I also heard that the queen was in the V.I.P. booth."

"Can't I go anywhere without drawing attention?"

"Not when you're the most beautiful queen in all the land."

"Ugh, you and your flattery."

With a small chuckle, Ben rose from his seat and headed for an empty one near Mal. "Yeah, but you know you love me," he placed a kiss atop her head before sitting down. "Now we got to talk about stuff you don't love."

"I have enough of a headache, Ben."

"Which is why I have a feeling you'll opt out of this one. Arthur's throwing some charity banquet in Camelot Heights and I promised I'd put in an appearance."

"How many opt out quotas do I have left?"

"Six."

"Opt out!"

"Five now. As much as I want to, I cannot opt out of this. I did manage to weasel my way out of being a special judge for the Miss Auradon Pageant. They're holding that in the west wing of the Excalibur Resort this year."

"Poor King Ben loses the opportunity to be surrounded by the most beautiful women in the world."

"They're not as beautiful as you," he assured her with a kiss to the lips.

"My vomit lips don't bother you?"

"Never," he planted another kiss on her. "Do you wanna opt out of a spontaneous lunch with me this afternoon?"

"Now that I will put in a _personal_ appearance for."

"Well, maybe not so spontaneous; we have to schedule it. I've got a couple things I gotta do. Oh, and I'll have Mrs. Potts give you something for your-"

"I know we promised to be honest with each other," Mal interrupted, "so I'd be lying if I said you being in the same vicinity of the realm's most beautiful women didn't..._bug_ me."

He stroked her hand. "I appreciate your honesty. I'd like to give you more than my word that I won't be anywhere near them. It probably doesn't help that Arthur's banquet is being held in the east wing of the same resort."

"It really doesn't."

"Maybe if I didn't go alone…"

"Once the opt out is verbal, it's binding."

"We did agree on that."

"But you don't have to go alone. Invite one of your friends to go with you. You're probably not going to come back to Auradon City the same night; spend some time with a pal in Camelot Heights."

"Are you sure?"

"I want to spend some quality time with Evie anyway. I don't know how much girl time we'll get together before the baby comes."

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes! Go! Do your charity thing."

"Great!" he stood up. "We still on for that spontaneously scheduled lunch?"

"Pick me up at Evie's."

"I'll see you later."

"Can Mrs. Potts make me that hangover cure now?"

…

Dizzy was at the front door before Mal even stepped out of the limo. "Oh good, you're here."

"Everything okay, Diz?" Mal questioned.

"Bathroom again."

"On my way," Mal went into the castle and up the stairs where Doug was standing outside the closed bathroom door. "What set her off this time?"

"My husband thinks I'm hideous!" Evie wailed from behind the door.

"Untrue!" Doug turned to Mal. "I told Evie the dress she was making for Audrey looked great."

"You think she's prettier than me!"

"No, I don't! The dress is going to look great on Audrey because my beautiful, amazing wife made it."

"You specifically said it would look great on Audrey!"

"Because the dress was made _for Audrey_!" Doug took a deep breath to ease any frustrations. "Evie, you know I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Then why won't _I_ look great in that dress!"

He lowered his voice to Mal. "I'm afraid to answer that."

"Yeah, this won't end pretty," Mal tapped on the bathroom door. "E, it's me. That dress you were working on for Audrey is gorgeous because you made it just for her. Whenever you make a dress just for you, you look a thousand times better than anyone—even Audrey—ever could, and your husband," Mal started throwing Doug some nonverbal cues, "agrees with me."

"I one thousand percent agree!"

She gave him a thumbs up. "When has pink ever been your color anyway? Now come out of there." They heard the door unlock and backed up to give Evie some space when it opened.

Evie sniffled as she wiped away some tears. "It is a fantastic dress."

Doug was ready with a handkerchief for her. "Made by my fantastic wife."

"Oh, Doug!" she flung herself into his arms and sobbed.

"It's okay," Doug soothingly rubbed her back to try to calm her. "You're okay. Everything's fine." She wiped her eyes as she backed away. Once she did, Doug started to bust a move as if he was about to break into a rap number. "You know all the women in the world ain't got nothing on mine."

This made Evie (and even Mal) giggle. "You and your dumb little rhymes."

"You love them."

She tapped her finger to his nose. "I love _you_."

"I love you too," they kissed each other.

Evie pulled away to put his hand on her middle. "Someone wants to tell their daddy 'good morning'."

Mal leaned against the doorframe and watched the loving interaction between husband and wife. Anytime the two were together, it was obvious they were perfect for one another. Doug loved Evie—and as evident by the sweet things he said to her bump, their baby—more than anything. No vision was going to convince her otherwise.

Would it?

…

"…at least I didn't burn anything this time," Jane was on her phone as she set the little table in her and Carlos' kitchen apartment. "This waffle maker thing is actually kinda easy to use. Who knew operating non-magical appliances was easy?" She listened on the other end of her phone as she performed her tasks. "No, he uses them more than I do. He's really good at domestic stuff…yes, I'm talking about Carlos de Vil," Jane laughed. "I know my planner job keeps me busy, but I do wanna help out more around the apartment." She listened on the phone as she made her way to the bathroom. "Yeah, but he does so much for me already," she picked up the dirty clothes hamper and headed for the washer and dryer. "I thought I'd make things easier and do laundry today," she noticed the white jacket dangling on the back of the chair. "Has this ever been washed?" She put the jacket atop the clothes. "No, I was talking about Carlos' jacket," she opened the washer and started throwing in the clothes. "Setting?" She looked at the appliance. "I'm sure it's fine where it is. I'm gonna hang up so I don't get distracted. I'll talk to you later…okay, bye." she then continued to throw the clothes in. "Whoops," she made sure to stop herself, "can't put too many in or the machine gets all rocky." She put in the laundry soap before shutting the door. "And turn it to regular…" she adjusted the knobs, "…push it in." the washing machine started up. Jane let out a gleeful squee and bounced up and down. She then came to a sudden stop as a realization dawned on her. "MY WAFFLES!"


	3. Now I'm Not Sure How to React

Mal looked over the dress her best friend had finished working on. "It really is a great dress."

Evie made a few more finishing touches to the outfit. "You think so?"

"It's amazing how you can capture everyone's style so perfectly."

"Not that it was easy blending a mostly pink dress with blue and green. I still don't think this works here," she went back to altering the dress.

"Hey, is it okay that I asked Ben to pick me up here later? He's planning a spontaneous lunch and I told him to meet me here."

"Yeah, sure," Evie went for her needle and thread, but momentarily stopped when her friend's words dawned on her. "Planning a _spontaneous_ lunch?"

Mal couldn't help but grin at that. "It's just something he wants to do before he has to leave for Camelot Heights."

"Is he the celebrity guest for the Miss Auradon Pageant?"

"No, Arthur's got some charity banquet at the same place and Ben said he'd be there." Mal read the expression on Evie's face. "I trust Ben, but I'd be lying if I say the thought of him being near all those beautiful women didn't irk me a little. I suggested he bring one of his friends to have a guy's night before coming back to Auradon City."

"Like a spy?"

"Maybe; but Ben does deserve some leisure time with people he likes. And I figured I could spend this time with you."

"Oh Mal, I'd really like that. What did you want to do?"

"I didn't really have anything in mind, but I was thinking we could-"

"Knock, knock," Doug made his presence known. "I thought Her Majesty would be interested to know that a certain King is riding his bike up the trail." Evie squealed with delight. "Ah, that's definitely a 'Mal and Ben are being romantic' squeal; I'm guessing he's here to take you on a date."

"You can translate your wife's squeals?"

Doug shrugged. "You pick up on deciphering non-verbal cues when you grow up with a dad who can't talk."

"Makes sense, and yes Ben and I are going on a spontaneously scheduled lunch."

"_Spontaneously_ scheduled?"

"Do you both have a fixation on that part in particular?"

Whoever arrived had knocked on the front door. "You want me to get that?"

"No, no, I'll get it." Doug stepped aside and gestured for Mal to exit. "Thank you." Mal strided to the front door, quickly fluffed her hair, and opened the door. "Hey you."

Was Ben surprised? "Mal?"

"That's not exactly the reaction I was hoping for."

"Sorry," the royal couple kissed. "I am happy to see you, but I'm actually here for Doug."

Mal let out a playful laugh to indicate she was about to make a quip. "What, you want to go to lunch with Doug?"

"Lunch!" Ben, however, didn't sound like he was joking. "Mal, I'm sorry, I completely forgot."

"Also wasn't expecting that."

He took her in his arms. "I am so beyond sorry for this and I promise I'll make it up to you when I come back."

"I know you will. And really, it's fine; these things happen."

"I was busy with prepping for the trip and I just forgot."

"This isn't the first time, and it most likely won't be the last. It's fine, I understand."

"I don't deserve you."

"You really don't." He smiled at her. "Besides, I can spend my free time with-"

"Doug!" Ben had noticed Doug come into view with his arm around Evie.

"Doug?" Mal had not.

Ben hurried over to his friend. "You are just the man I wanted to see."

Doug (and Evie) looked confused by this. "You're not here for Mal?"

"I was hoping we could talk for a sec."

There was an awkward silence. Unsure of how to break it, Doug started accentuating with hand gestures. "Do I talk first or you talk first?"

"Oh, I meant just us guys talk…in private." He pointed to the wide open front door. "Can we-"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Doug gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "I guess I'll be right back."

Ben merely patted Mal's shoulder. "I'll be back too."

"Okay," Mal watched as the two stepped outside, Ben closing the door behind them. "I can't help but think that was a little weird."

"You think they're planning something?" Evie suggested.

"It's possible; but why would Ben suddenly want to-"

"MAL!" a sudden shout from another person on the other side of the castle ceased that thought.

"Carlos?"

"He must've come in through the workshop door," Evie figured as quickly approaching footsteps got louder. "Sounds like something's wrong."

"Mal!" Carlos ran into view while holding something in his hands. "Mal, this is bad!" He held up what used to be his favorite jacket.

Mal exchanged a look with her equally confounded gal pal. "Okay, so your jacket's pink."

"Don't you realize what this means?"

"That Jane tried to do laundry, accidentally mixed white and red together, and now you have a pink jacket."

"Yes, but this also means that what you saw with the pink jacket has gotta happen. And if mine and Jay's visions came true then so will Evie's!" Mal's eyes widened at him. "That means-" Mal faked a cough and nodded toward Evie to get Carlos to notice. "Evie!" he noticed. He quickly hid the jacket behind him. "I didn't see you there."

"Why do you sound so upset?" Evie questioned him. "Mal's visions coming true is a good thing." A tensed, awkward silence followed. Her eyes darted between her friends. "Isn't it?" She then directed the focus to Mal. "Unless you don't want mine to come true." She started piecing the clues together. "You lied to me about what you saw."

"Evie, I…" Mal couldn't bring herself to explain, "…I didn't want to…" she angrily turned to Carlos. "This was going so well until you and your stupid, pink jacket showed up!" She growled. "Why did you have to go and prove me right?"

"Mal," Evie tried to be firm, "what happened in my vision? Truth!"

"You might want to sit down," Mal guided Evie to the nearest place to sat, helped her sit, and that sat down next to her. "So my vision didn't have anything to do with Uma."

"I gathered that."

"And I swear nothing's wrong with your baby! I didn't even see whether or not it was a boy or girl—not that I would tell you if I did; you guys want it to be a surprise."

"Was I in this vision at all?" Mal shook her head. "I wasn't?"

"Doug was."

"Doug?"

"But he wasn't the only one I saw in the vision."

"Who was with him?"

"I wish I could tell you. I have no idea who he was with."

"Was he doing something with this person?"

"That's the million dollar question," Carlos muttered under his breath.

Evie had heard him anyway. "Did Mal tell you what she saw?"

Carlos nodded. "Jay too." Mal flashed him a wide-eyed look. "If we're going down, we're going down together."

"You told Carlos and Jay, but not me?"

Mal put her hand on Evie's knee. "E-"

"Why is that our friends know something about me that I'm supposed to know?"

"I had to tell someone and they were there! And it's about not so much about you as it is Doug!"

"Doug and this other person?"

"It was some other girl," Carlos felt that needed to be said.

"Carlos!" Mal admonished.

"She was bound to figure out it was another girl in bed with him."

"CARLOS!"

"You did mention the bed part, right?"

"No, but you did."

"In bed?" Evie was still calm about all this. "So you had a vision of my husband in bed with another woman?"

Mal took Evie's hands in hers as a show of comfort. "Yes. My vision was Doug in bed with another woman." Mal couldn't quite read Evie's expression. "E?" Evie suddenly burst into laughter. Mal exchanged a befuddled look with Carlos, who simply shrugged in uncertainty. "This wasn't really the reaction I expected."

"Maybe she's not sure how to react," Carlos suggested.

"Do you hear yourselves?" Evie continued laughing. "Believing that my husband would have an affair with another woman!" She managed to subside her laughter. "Oh, that's got to be one of the funniest things I've heard."

"Okay, now _I'm_ not sure how to react."

"Me neither," Mal admitted. "When I ran through reaction scenarios, this wasn't exactly one of them."

Evie composed herself. "The funniest part of all this is that you believed what you saw and didn't stop to consider the facts. You've known Doug for nearly a decade now and you think he's capable of something like this? And ever since I've gotten pregnant, Doug's hardly left my side. I could hardly go anywhere by myself without him checking up on me every twenty minutes."

"I tried to tell them Doug wouldn't do this," Carlos was trying to play it smooth. "You and Doug are each other's true loves."

"Exactly!" Evie looked at Mal. "I wish you guys would have told me the truth."

"I also told them we should tell you."

"Not helping, Carlos!" Mal coldly chided.

"Well I did."

Mal groaned in frustration. "Okay, yes, he did."

"Thank you."

She rolled her eyes before continuing. "But with your hormones all over the place and with what happened earlier when you locked yourself in the bathroom-"

"Even so," Evie interrupted, "you still should have told me."

Carlos broke into a smug grin. "See Mal, I told you."

The front door opened and Doug and Ben came back into the house. "Ladies," Ben bowed to the women.

"Ahem!"

"Carlos?"

"He came in through the back," Mal explained.

"Ah," Ben understood.

"How did your boy talk go?"

Ben nudged Doug toward Evie. "Go on!"

"Everything okay?" Evie asked.

"Evie," Doug seemed a little nervous, "Ben's got some thing he's gotta do in Camelot Heights and he invited me to come with me."

"I also told him that _The Dragon Slayers_ have a concert there and I pulled some strings for front row seats and backstage passes," Ben added.

"But I told him no."

"What?" this was more of a reaction from Evie that Mal had previously counted on. "Why? _The Dragon Slayers_ are your favorite band in the world; you've always wanted to meet them."

"Yeah, but I couldn't take you with me. I mean yeah things are so much better if I get to share them with you and all that, but I'm going to be in a whole nother city. What if something goes wrong and I can't get to you?"

"Nothing is going to go wrong," Evie tried to assure her husband. "Besides, Mal and I could use a little girl time together."

"I would've given you two space."

"I'm not disputing that. You'd let us do whatever, but be bored waiting in this castle and wanting to constantly check on me."

"Okay, fair."

She took his hands in hers. "We're not going to have much time to do the things we really want to do. I want you to go, have fun, and not worry about me for a few hours. I doubt we'll have another chance to do anything fun for a while anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she kissed his cheek. "You'll have so much fun."

"Yeah, but I wish you could go with me."

Carlos' hand instantly went up. "I'll go!"

"You will?" Doug wasn't the only one to question this.

"Yeah, it's probably not safe to go to a packed concert alone. I like _The Dragon Slayers_."

"You do?"

"Why are you all so surprised by this?"

Ben was the first to speak solo. "Well I know Jay kinda likes them, but-"

"So let's bring Jay too! I'll call and ask him."

"Uh…" Ben turned to Doug. "…you cool with this?"

Doug gave a nonchalant shrug. "The more the merrier."

"I guess I'm going to go back to the castle and make sure I have everything ready. I'll meet everyone back here in an hour?"

"Yeah, sure."

Carlos excitedly clapped his hands together. "Great! I should probably do the whole calling Jay thing now. Mal, would you like to come with me?"

Mal gave out a disbelieved scoff. "To make a phone call?"

"What if I get the number wrong or something?"

"Whatever," she followed Carlos down the hall. "What are you doing?"

"You don't get it? Ben would be letting Doug go to that concert by himself and no one would be there in case he met 'long, dark, and leggy'."

"Carlos, we don't know that it will-"

He flashed his jacket in her face. "Pink jacket, Mal; exactly like what you saw for my vision! You saw Jay's vision happen; so will mine, and so will Evie's."

"Maybe I got it wrong. We know Doug: he's not like this. He's way more insecure about him being with Evie and he does everything he can to make her happy so she won't even think about anyone else. I don't know why I saw what I saw, but-"

"-but I'll be able to help figure out why you saw it."

"And bring Jay along with you?"

"He knows about this, he wants to prevent this from happening, and he likes _The Dragon Slayers_. Plus we'll have some muscle for backup."

"I guess you did give this some thought."

"Give me a little credit. I was the one who told you to tell Evie in the first place."

"Aren't you supposed to be calling Jay?"

"I will, I will. Hey," he held out his jacket, "can you do something about the pink?"

"But if I did, then my vision for you wouldn't come true. You were talking to someone in that vision, remember. You said something slow and then got into a royal limo. If I turned your jacket back to normal, what happened wouldn't happen, would it?"

Carlos sighed. "Then it would make all this a mute point."

"_Moot_ point."

"No, moot is the sound a cow makes."

"I don't have time to tell you how wrong you are right now, I gotta go get ready." Mal made her way back to the front. "I'll be back later, E."

Evie waved to her friend. "I'll be here."

"That doesn't make sense!" Carlos yelled as he tried to catch up with Mal. "Why would a cow even need a point?"

"_Cow_?" Evie's gasping caught Carlos' attention. "I can't believe you'd say that," she waddled as fast as she could to the nearest room and slammed the door shut.

"Evie, I-"

"Yeah, this isn't gonna end pretty," Doug warned.

Carlos pointed to the door. "I should probably-"

"Probably, yeah."

"Should I bring Mal back here?"

"Please and thank you."


	4. There's No Stopping You

Jay parked his bike outside the castle and headed toward where Mal was waiting. "Where is Carlos?"

Mal craned her head toward the castle. "He's inside with Jane packing an overnight bag."

"I told the guys _The Dragon Slayers _weren't _that bad_; I don't actually wanna go to their concert! Those guys are too…I only like five of their songs!"

"You're mostly going as muscle."

"So like a bodyguard?" Mal nodded. "But not as a bodyguard for Ben?"

"It's Doug we're worried about."

"Oh, because of him being in bed with some other chick?"

"Yes, but as far as Doug's concerned, it's because you guys are worried about him going to a packed concert by himself."

"I doubt the concert will be packed." He gripped onto his backpack straps. "Since Carlos blabbed, am I also giving intel to Evie?"

"It'd seem rather moot; Evie doesn't believe my vision for her will come true."

"What does the sound a cow makes have to do with this?"

Him too? Mal tried not to lose her cool. "Just tell _me_ everything." Jay shrugged and headed inside. Once all this was over with, Mal was going to have to give him and Carlos a serious lesson on grammar and animal noises.

"You can still take back your opt out," Ben's appearance made Mal jump.

The startle was brief, however. "Once it's said aloud, it's binding. Besides: I'd rather spend some time with Evie than at some charity banquet with all those hoi polois and hoity toities."

He put his hands on her shoulders to vow, "I will make this up to you when I get back."

"I don't doubt that." She took his hands in hers. "I just don't want to go with you."

"In all honesty: that was a good idea for me to bring the guys. Not just for company, but for protection. I mean with the pageant, the concert, and the dinner the media is gonna be all over."

Mal hadn't considered this. "The media will be all over."

"Just try not to read too much into what they say or what kind of photos they take. Those guys just want to sell a story, or whatever they can turn into a story."

"Promise me you won't be staying in your royal suite at the _Excalibur_. After what happened that one time with the paparazzi on the hotel balcony, I don't want to take any chances."

"Can I still get a suite though?"

"As long as no one from the press finds out. I don't want them taking any more candid photos."

"There'll still be photos though. You can expect some press photos from the charity banquet later."

"That, I can live with. I do enjoy looking at pics of Artie."

"Ha, ha."

"Flash me our secret signal?" Ben gave their secret signal gesture as a reply.

"Sire," the limo driver approached the king, "everything is all ready. If we're going to be there on time, I suggest you and your party leave now."

"Thank you," Ben dismissed the driver. "Guess I better get the guys." He went back inside to gather his friends. It didn't seem to take too long because the majority of the group had been waiting downstairs. "Let's get this show on the road." Ben led the way.

"CARLOS, LET'S GO!" Jay bellowed for one of the absent members before hurrying over to the limo. He fiddled with his backpack straps as the husbands bade goodbye to their respective wives. Slightly impatient, he then pulled out his phone and started to text.

Carlos and Jane were soon making their way over hand in hand. "You're really not mad at me?" she had asked him. "It was your favorite jacket."

"It's just a jacket," he assured her his fiancee. "I'm sorry if I seemed mad earlier, but I wasn't quite sure how to react when I learned basically all my clothes were pink. Speaking of: thanks again for bringing me some clothes for my trip."

Jane kissed his cheek. "Have fun at the concert."

He reciprocated with a kiss to her cheek. "Have fun with Dude."

"I'll miss you," they both said at the same time. They each had a giggle before one last parting kiss.

"Bro!" Jay called Carlos' attention as the male spouses got into the limo. "Let's go!"

Carlos gave Jane's hand a squeeze as a show of goodbye. He put on his jacket as he made his way over to their transportation. Jay—who had yet to see the drastic change to Carlos' jacket—immediately burst into laughter. An irritated Carlos pointed his finger at his friend. "Don't. Say. A. Word." To be fair, Jay didn't say a word as he entered the limo in hysterics.

Mal, meanwhile, was not hysterical. Following this scene, her jaw had dropped. "Just like my vision."

"What'd you say, Mal?" did everyone just not notice their pregnant friend or something?

"Nothing important."

"Hi guys," Jane went over to the girls. "Carlos didn't look bad in the pink jacket, did he?"

"I think he can rock it," Evie complimented. "A change in wardrobe color can do some good."

"This coming from the girl who only wears blue," Mal teased.

"You're one to talk, Your Royal Purpleness."

She pointed to a non-purple spot on her outfit. "I believe this color is green."

Evie rolled her eyes before diverting the focus to Jane. "So Jane, are you doing anything later? Mal and I were gonna have a girl's night and you can totally join us."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Jane declined. "I need to start planning for two bachelorette parties, three weddings, six baby showers—it's like there's something in the water—and something called a '_quinceañera_' for Princess Sofia of Enchancia. Plus someone needs to keep an eye on Dude." Her phone went off. "Huh…make that _seven_ baby showers. Maybe some other time; bye guys."

"Bye Jane," Evie was the only one who vocally said goodbye. "Okay Mal, I'm all yours! What should we do?"

"Huh?" It was clear Mal's mind was elsewhere. "Oh, uh…I guess I hadn't really planned that far ahead."

"Something's up."

"What happened just now when Carlos got into the limo: that was my _exact_ vision for Carlos. And yesterday when Jay won the Tourney game and his team celebrated, that vision was exact."

"Uh-huh," Evie wasn't sure where Mal was going with that.

"Don't you see the connection?"

"I can't say that I do."

"I was there when those visions came true! I was in the bleachers for Jay's, I was standing right here for Carlos', and _I'm_ the one who's going to catch Doug in bed with that girl!"

"Oh, not this again!"

"Sending Carlos and Jay is essentially useless because _I_ have to be there."

"So what; we're just going to follow them to Camelot Heights?"

"What choice do we have?"

"The choice to stay in Auradon City and have the best girl's day. I miss you, Mal. With you being queen and me running by business and starting a family, we rarely get time for just us. It's only going to get harder to have time for ourselves, let alone each other."

"We can still do all the girl's day stuff in Camelot Heights!"

"Mal-"

"I'll even let you pick a road trip playlist! I'll rent us an inconspicuous car, we'll drive to Camelot Heights, hit the town, and then spend the night at the _Excalibur_. Ooh, I told Ben not to use his suite, so we'll use it. We'll rent movies and have ice cream and all that stuff we were gonna do here." Evie bit her lip and looked away. "E, say something."

"Whenever you're sure about something, there's no point in trying to convince you otherwise. Are you really sure about Doug?"

There was a tense pause as Mal thought this over. "Yeah, E, I am."

"Well, I'm not." Another pause. "But there's no stopping you." They shared an understanding look before Evie smiled. "Plus I want to be there when you're finally proven wrong."

"And I wouldn't be upset if I wasn't," Mal initiated a hug between them.

"So will you help me pack for Camelot Heights?" Mal had barely nodded when Evie excitedly grabbed her hands in hers. "Let's take this girl's day on the road!"

"ROAD TRIP!"

…

"Glad to see you're getting use of the TV, Jay," Ben noted without looking up from his notes as they rode on to Camelot Heights.

"If you can call it use," Jay aimed the remote at the device. "Over eight hundred channels and still nothing to watch!" He kept browsing until he came across an attractive woman. "I stand corrected." This got the other's attentions. "This is what I call 'must see TV'."

"This looks like the introduction of the Miss Auradon Pageant contestants," Ben set his notes down. "See, there's Snow White giving the interviews."

"Isn't the pageant tomorrow?" Carlos inquired.

"This is like a preshow thing."

"Can't wait to see what they got for the _show_ show," Jay sniggered. "Ooh, here comes the next babe."

The next contestant definitely got Doug to notice. "Melody?"

Carlos' glance darted back and forth from Doug to the TV. "You know her?"

"Yeah, that's Melody, Ariel and Eric's daughter. She and I knew each other back in the day. Gosh, I haven't seen her since we were twelve."

"She's got a nice set of legs on her," Jay felt the need to comment. "Despite the whole mom being a mermaid deal." He considered something. "To be fair: her mom was also kinda hot."

Ben rolled his eyes and he jotted down some notes. "So tactful."

"Melody does take more after her mother," Doug agreed. "Granted she may have inherited Eric's black hair, but the style is very much Ariel. It's gotten longer since the last time I saw her."

Carlos was discreetly pulling out his phone. "Would you say she has long, black hair and nice legs?"

"Well, she has long, black hair."

"And nice legs?"

Doug didn't really know how to respond to this. "I guess. She does swim a lot."

"So she has long, black hair, nice legs, and is going to be in Camelot Heights," he began texting as fast as he could. "Interesting."

…

Mal and Evie broke into a giggle fit following their dramatic singing. The laughter was interrupted by a notification ding on Mal's phone. "E," Mal kept her eyes on the road, "could you?"

Evie reached for Mal's phone. "It's from Carlos." She scanned the message. "It's kind of hard to read with all these typos."

Mal pulled the car over. "Let me see," she tried to decipher the message. "I think he's trying to say they found the girl with black hair and nice legs. I can't make out her name but it's something about the pageant and mermaids."

Evie got out her phone. "Maybe it's one of the Miss Auradon contestants. Not like it's going to be easy narrowing down one with black hair. What did he mean about the mermaids?"

"Hold on: he's sending another text." Mal waited for the message, but couldn't quite understand it when she got it. "I swear to Zeus, this boy needs to go to grammar school. I'm still not sure, but it's something to do with-"

"Melody."

"Can you read his text from here?"

"No, the girl," Evie passed her phone to Mal. "That's who he was talking about."

Mal inspected her picture before reading the brief bio. "Melody, daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel-"

"The Little Mermaid!" both she and Evie stated in unison.

"Well…" Mal was at a loss for words, "…maybe she got her mother's legs…er, _fins_."

"Look at her, Mal!" Evie was very close to an emotional breakdown. "She's beautiful! She's a beautiful woman with dark hair and she's gonna be near my husband!"

"This might not mean anything! Carlos might just be texting us his vote for Miss Auradon. Just stay calm-"

"STAY CALM!" Well that wasn't going to happen. "How can I stay calm when my husband is going to be in bed with a woman who's part fish?"

"What, now you believe me?"

"Get out of the car."

"Excuse me."

"I'm driving."

"What? No! Evie, there's a reason we don't let you behind a wheel or at the reins."

"And it's going to be an advantage in getting us to Camelot Heights. Now switch."

Mal groaned in frustration. She could be stubborn, but so could Evie. And given the current situation, Evie was not going to back down anytime soon. "Fine," she angrily took off her seatbelt, "but now I get to pick the playlist."


	5. So if You Haven't Guessed

The queue for _The Dragon Slayers _concert seemed endless. "We're two hours early!" Jay lamented. "Why is this line so long?"

"I guess these guys are more popular than we thought," Carlos was observing various fans. "Should we have dressed more like that?" he pointed to what can only be described as a _Dragon Slayers' _super fan.

"Can't we meet these guys _before _the show?"

"Sorry guys," this was Doug's way of saying no, "but the backstage passes are for _after_ the show." Jay let out a dramatic moan of frustration. "You can't tell me you're not the least bit excited?"

"I only like five of their songs!" They watched as a group of people passed the line. "Hey, how come they get to cut?"

"They're V.I.P.s"

"We're friends with the frickin' king; the V-est of V.I.P.s! Doesn't that count for something?"

"Not without him here. Besides, they're just going to wait in some fancy lounge area before getting a personal escort to their front row seats."

Sounds of giggling grew closer as a group of gorgeous girls passed the guys. They would have kept going on, until one of them stopped and turned. "Doug?" the one in the center recognized Dopey's son. "Is that you?"

"Melody!"

"Holy mackerel, I haven't seen you in years!" she reached for a hug, which he obliged. "It was that last summer you guys spent in my dad's kingdom before I transferred to Atlantica, right?"

"And a few summers before that," Melody playfully swatted him as Carlos and Jay exchanged anxious glances. "I didn't know you were a _Dragon Slayers_ fan."

"Only since forever!" She noticed Jay and Carlos. "You here with cousins?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Melody, these are my friends Jay and Carlos. Jay, Carlos, this is Melody."

Ever the charmer, Jay took Melody's hand in his and kissed it. "En garde, Mademoiselle."

"It's nice to meet you too," Melody tried not to laugh at his faux pas.

"I'm Carlos," Carlos shook her hand. "Jay and I are Doug's friends now, but we were actually friends with his wife first."

"Yep!" Jay pulled Doug closer to him. "We wouldn't be friends with this guy if he hadn't met his wife, who happens to be our friend."

"Our friend who's having a baby."

"With her husband, Doug," Jay felt the need to add that part.

Doug nervously cleared his throat before addressing his old friend. "So if you haven't guessed, I've gotten married since we last saw each other."

"Congratulations," despite the sincerity in her voice, Jay and Carlos were still skeptical of Melody. "I mean, I noticed the ring, but I was going to wait for you to volunteer that information. I'm genuinely happy for you. Congrats on the baby too."

"Thank you, Melody. And congratulations on making it to the Miss Auradon Pageant."

Melody brushed that off with a wave of her hand. "It's really nothing. Seriously, I didn't even want to compete, but my you know my Aunt Arista."

"I know you have an Aunt Arista, but I couldn't tell you which one she is."

"Much like how you keep forgetting at least one of your six uncles who's names are all based on their personality."

"Oh, like you can remember your aunts?"

"Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana are my aunts; Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, and Sneezy are _your_ uncles."

"Touche," they shared a laugh.

"Wow, I can't believe it's been so long. I mean, there's so much catching up to do. I want to know everything you've been up to, I want to know what you're doing now, and I'm especially curious to know about your wife."

"We could tell you all about her!" Carlos interjected.

"Mel!" one of the girls Melody was with had gotten impatient.

"I'll catch up in a sec," she told her companions before turning back to Carlos, Jay, and Doug. "Would you guys like to tell me in the V.I.P. lounge?"

"Would we!" Jay leaped and bounded over toward her.

Melody let out a clearly fake chuckle at Jay before leading everyone to the lounge. "They're with me," she told the bouncer. He said nothing and gestured for them to go inside.

"Sweet!" Jay instantly ran for the video games.

"Look at the size of that!" Carlos, meanwhile, gravitated toward the massive chocolate fountain.

"Your friends seem nice," Melody stayed behind with Doug.

"They really are," Doug assured her.

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but they are villain kids, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they're not coercing you or forcing you to be here or anything. If they are, tell me and I'll make sure you're safe."

"They're good guys, Mel, really. I think they've always been."

"Your wife is a friend of theirs?"

"Evie was once a VK, yes."

"And she didn't put you under a love spell or manipulate you or anything?"

That seemed to hit a sore spot with Doug. "I appreciate your concern for my safety, Melody, but you have nothing to concern yourself about, particularly in regards to my wife."

"Sorry, but I didn't go to Auradon Prep and get to know them. If you trust them, I trust them. Come on," she led him to the couch, "tell me more about this wife of yours."

Carlos inched over toward Jay. "They seem awfully close for just friends, don't they?"

"Direct hit!" Jay was too immersed with his game.

"Jay!"

With a groan, Jay hit the pause button. "Let them catch up, there's no harm in them just talking."

"No harm? They're gonna end up in bed together!"

"Do you see a bed here?"

They heard Melody gasp and laugh, Doug laughing immediately with her. "Well, I still don't trust her."

…

When the car was parked, Mal instantly got out of it and kissed the ground, grateful to be alive. "I am so glad to be out of that death mobile."

Evie slammed her door shut. "I got you here safely, didn't I? I avoided those speeding tickets, didn't I?"

"That was actually pretty impressive how you emotionally manipulated yourself out of a ticket."

Evie took pride in that. "I still got it."

Mal rose to her feet. "The concert starts in twenty minutes, I doubt we're gonna make it there. I say we check in to the hotel and then check up on the guys."

"I doubt I'm gonna make it if I don't get to the bathroom first," the bluenette rushed past her lavender haired friend and into the nearest bathroom.

Mal sighed. "At least she held it through the drive." She examined her surroundings. "This place is nice; liking the medieval themes." Her reverie was disturbed by her phone. "Ugh, Carlos, what do you want now?" She looked at her latest message expecting another text, but was instead sent a link. Mal clicked the link and was taken to some sort of social media page. The page belonged to _MelofLandandSea_ and the post was a selfie of the user with Carlos, Jay, a group of pageant girls, and (sitting to the user's right) Doug. Mal read the caption aloud. "_The beasts are ready for the slaughter, hashtag pageant pals, hashtag old friends, hashtag new friends, hashtag Dragon Slayers_," this made her roll her eyes. "Hashtag much?"

"Okay," Evie hurried over to Mal as best she could, "how much time until the concert's over?"

"Oh yeah, like I can tell you how long it'll be."

"Not even with your visions?"

"Concerts are usually two hours—give or take—but I'm not factoring in backstage passes or aftershows. We have plenty of time."

"Then I suggest we use it wisely. Let's get something to eat I am STARVING," she dramatically exaggerated the last word.

"Yeah, sure, but I'm gonna check us into the _Excalibur _first."

"Ooh, can we get room service?"

The two friends—though mostly Evie—went into detail about what to eat and how to spend their girl's night before making it up to the front desk. "Hi, I was wondering if-"

"Your Majesty!" the concierge bowed.

"No, really, that's not necessary. I was just wondering if the Royal Suite was available for tonight."

"It is: but would you rather I let you stay with His Majesty in his private suite."

"NO!" Mal said that a little louder than she anticipated. "Heh, no. I'd rather not have the king know I'm here."

"Oh, I understand," he gave a suggestive wink.

"Uh-huh, sure, now about that royal suite…"

…

Carlos kept a close watch on Doug and Melody as they left the arena singing the chorus of one of the band's popular songs together. Jay, meanwhile, kept a close eye on one of Melody's pageant friends, so he seemed essentially useless.

"That was so much fun!" Melody practically shouted. "We should definitely do that again sometime!"

"Definitely!" Doug agreed.

"And we can _definitely_ bring Doug's wife," Carlos interjected. "Right, Jay?"

"Yeah, sure," Jay clearly wasn't invested. "An all-Princesses academy, you say?"

"It was great seeing you again, Doug," Melody gave her old friend a rather long hug. "You have my number, call me."

Doug held up his phone. "Will do."

"And Carlos, Jay, it was nice meeting you two."

"Thank you," Carlos thanked on their behalf. "And may I say that meeting you was very…well, it seemed bound to happen."

Melody (or Doug) wasn't sure how to interpret that. "Yeah, sure, okay." She patted Doug's shoulder. "See you 'round."

"Hey," Doug stopped her, "are you guys staying at the _Excalibur_?"

"Yeah, we called for a limo to pick us up. Do you need a ride back?"

"Actually-"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Carlos was quick to decline. "It was nice meeting you, Melody!"

"Okay, bye guys!" Melody bade them goodbye.

"Bye, Jay," the other girls practically swooned this simultaneously before hurrying off to their limo in a fit of giggles.

"Why'd you turn her down?" Doug asked Carlos. "We rode Ben's limo here and traffic is a nightmare right now. It'll take the driver forever to get back here."

"Well…" Carlos quickly thought of an excuse, "I don't think it's fair to impose on her after she did all that V.I.P. stuff for us."

"The hotel's not far from here," Jay countered. "We can walk it."

Doug didn't really seem too keen on that idea. "Yeah, I'd really rather not. I haven't really been getting any sleep and the concert kinda wore me out, so-"

"—so the faster we walk, the faster we get back to the hotel."

"I guess there's logic in that."

"Don't forget to call Evie," Carlos reminded. "I mean you've been so far from her all day and haven't really gotten in touch with her, so you should probably call and tell her you love her before you get all comfortable in a new bed all by yourself."

"Yee-ah, I'll do that."

"Let's go!" The guys all started walking together.

"Hold up," Jay stopped them, "does this mean me and Carlos are sharing a bed tonight?"

"Yep!" Carlos looped his arm around his best friend. "Just you and me; two bros in bed together." Even without the looks he was getting, Carlos understood. "Yeah, I probably should have worded that differently."


	6. Let Her Have this One

Ben was sitting on the sofa in the suite's living area when the other guys entered the room. "Hey," he greeted, "I was starting to worry about ya." Doug let out a series of unintelligible noises as he practically collapsed on the nearby sofa, mumbling into the cushion. "I didn't quite catch that."

Doug looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please carry me to the bedroom."

"He's just a little tired," Carlos pointedly stated.

"You know," Ben began, "I gave you guys the okay to use the limo."

"Yeah, but traffic. We thought walking would be faster."

"Maybe it would have been if Doug kept up," Jay mumbled.

"Sooooo tired," Doug let out a great big yawn before turning his face back into the cushion.

Ben sighed at this sight. "Guys, I think we should help him into bed. Afterwards we probably should settle in for the night and-"

"CARLOS HAS A MESSAGE!" the sound of Dude's voice had Jay and Ben looking around the room in confusion. "CARLOS HAS A MESSAGE!"

Carlos gave a nervous chuckle. "Personalized notification tone," he quickly read his message. "Um…" he fumbled with his words and over exaggerated his hand gestures. "…there's something I really need to do. Put Doug in whichever bed, we have no preference. Jay, could you come with me?" Before Jay could protest, Carlos had pulled him out into the hall.

Ben wasn't quite sure how to process all of this. "Okay then."

…

"What was that about?" Jay had managed to ask when they were out the door.

Carlos was unintentionally ignoring him as he looked around the hotel hallway. "Coast is clear!"

"No duh, bro, we're the only ones out here."

"Think again," Mal stepped into view with Evie behind her.

"Mal? Evie? What are you doing here?"

"I figured out a link between my visions," Mal started to explain to the boys. "The main factor being that I was there to witness them all personally. So when I saw what I saw with Doug was actually me seeing it in person."

"But you haven't seen it yet."

"And we're going to make sure she doesn't," Evie was compelled to declare.

"I doubt it will. Your man's basically passed out on the couch."

"And Doug's gonna be sleeping with us in the room with two beds," Carlos added. "Ben's taking him to the room now."

"Where Doug will be in a bed _by himself_."

"We even rejected Melody's offer for a ride back to the hotel."

"You better have," Evie grumbled.

"So we basically made this trip for nothing?" Mal's disdain was louder.

"Yeah." (Carlos)

"Pretty much." (Jay)

"Seems like it." (Evie)

"But all my other visions not only happened, they happened really quickly after having them! And I was there for all of them!"

"They didn't exactly happen in order though," Carlos reminded. "You told mine first, then Jay, and then Evie."

"Technically she actually saw her own vision first," Jay pointed out. "She didn't say anything about that one happening."

"No!" Mal held firm. "I refuse to believe this isn't going to happen."

"Mal-"

"This was real! I'm going to be there! It's going to happen, I know it!" She instantly turned to Evie. "I don't want it to, but it is."

"But Melody isn't even here!" Carlos defended. "Why can't you just accept that you were wrong about Evie's vision?"

"Because I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Evie sided with the boys. "Face the facts, Mal: Carlos and Jay took all these precautions to prevent this from happening, Melody isn't even here, and it just isn't like Doug to do what you thought you saw him doing. We came all this way here for nothing. Let's just go back to our room and pretend this never happened."

Mal sighed. "Fine," She looked toward their hotel room, "but I'd feel better if I confirmed this for myself first."

Carlos opened the door with his key. "Be my guest."

"Come on Evie," Mal started leading Evie inside. "I'm gonna need a witness."

"We're in the room on the right."

Mal steeled before opening the door. "As much I don't want this to happen, I don't want to be proven wrong."

"But I want to be there when you are," Evie opened the door and gestured for Mal to step inside.

"Such a supportive friend," Mal quipped before officially going into the room. "Which bed do you think he'd be in?" Evie shrugged. Turning on the light, the girls were surprised to find that both beds were empty. "I thought Jay said he was practically passed out."

"There's a light coming from that door," Evie observed. "It's gotta be the en suite bathroom." The sound of a toilet flushing emitted from behind the door.

"That's gotta be Doug." The person stepped out of the bathroom and let out a small scream. "Or not."

"Mal? Evie?" Ben inched closer as if to determine if they were real. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"We should be asking you the same thing! Aren't you supposed to be in the other room?"

"Why does it matter? It wouldn't explain what you and Evie are doing here! Which by the way I would like an answer to!"

"You answer mine, and I'll answer yours. Why aren't you in your room?"

"And where's Doug?" Evie questioned.

"He's asleep in the other room!" Ben's answer took the girls aback.

"Beg pardon?"

…

_ EARLIER _

"Um…" Carlos fumbled with his words and over exaggerated his hand gestures. "…there's something I really need to do. Put Doug in whichever bed, we have no preference. Jay, could you come with me?" Before Jay could protest, Carlos had pulled him out into the hall.

Ben wasn't quite sure how to process all of this. "Okay then." He went over to his friend. "Doug, bud, let's get you to bed, okay."

"I already did enough walking," Doug protested.

"A few more steps won't kill you," Ben helped his friend up. "Here: I'll let you sleep in the master bedroom. It's closer and the other guys won't disturb you."

"You're awesome."

"Hey, I saw that pic of you guys with Melody. I haven't seen her since the last summer we all hung out together; how's she doing?"

"She's good, wants reunion with old gang and partners," Doug's sentences were short and clipped.

"Partners, huh? Is Melody seeing anyone?"

"Can't tell."

"I call kingly privilege; yes you can."

"Dating Moana, not official yet, don't tell parents."

Ben contemplated this pairing. "Melody and Moana…good for them." Doug then unleashed another massive yawn. "Concert wore you out that much, huh?"

"Haven't been sleeping, too anxious."

"Worried about Evie and the baby?" Doug's head bobbed up and down. "Well, you've earned at least one good night's sleep. I'll even tuck you in," Ben helped Doug into the bed and tucked him in. "I'll be in the other room with the guys." Ben's response was a loud snore. "Goodnight, Doug," Ben shut the door behind him before heading into the other room.

…

_ PRESENTLY _

"We traded rooms," Ben clarified. "Poor guy was so tired I gave him my room for the night."

Evie flashed Mal a smug look. "Looks like you were wrong."

Ben also looked at Mal. "I told you mine, now you tell me yours. Truth!"

"Okay," Mal tried to piece together how to start. "I practiced my fortune telling on my friends and my vision for Evie was Doug in bed with a dark haired woman."

Ben's reaction was a mix between a scoff and a chuckle. "And you were so sure that was going to happen that you came all the way here with Evie to make sure that it did?"

"My visions for Carlos and Jay came true! Plus I was there for both of them, if the thing with Doug was going to happen, _I_ was going to be there."

"Okay, but why would you even be there? Did you even stop to consider-" Ben's thought was interrupted by a sudden scream.

"Doug!" Evie rushed out as fast as she could with the others in pursuit.

…

_ MEANWHILE _

"Come on Evie," Mal started leading Evie inside. "I'm gonna need a witness."

"We're in the room on the right," Carlos informed her as the girls headed for the room. "I dunno; I kinda wanna go in there too."

"And I'd rather not be involved in this anymore," Jay disagreed.

"Speaking of involved: I think we need to tell Ben about this." Jay groaned. "What if he hears something or sees Mal come out?"

"Fine," Jay went to the master bedroom with Carlos close behind. "Ben!" Jay knocked on the door, but got no answer. "Ben?" he tentatively opened the door to hear the sounds of snoring. "He's sleeping!"

"We still have to tell him. Could you wake him up while I go pee real quick?"

"Hurry up, Bro," Carlos ran to the en suite bathroom. "And wash your hands this time!" Jay made his way over to the bed. "Ben," he began to shake the source of the snoring. "Wake up; Carlos and I have to tell you something." Nothing. "Ben!" Jay got onto the bed and hovered over the sleeper as he shook him. "It'll only take a sec." The person made a noise before turning over on their back. "Ben?" Whoever made the noise didn't sound like Ben.

"Wha-" when the sleeper opened their eyes, they let out a terrified scream. This in turn caused Jay to scream. There was some undistinguishable, panicked movement and flailing before someone finally turned the light on.

"Doug?" Doug turned toward the three people who called his name with a startled look of surprise on his face. Jay also directed his attention toward them, but it was hard to distinguish the look on his face with his hair covering it.

Carlos had raced out of the restroom. "What's going on?"

"THIS IS IT!" Mal was the only one who didn't seem startled or confused by anything. In fact, she was laughing. "This was what I saw!" Once the realization dawned on them, Ben and Evie started to laugh.

Carlos hadn't quite caught up yet. "I don't get it."

"My vision! It was Doug in bed with someone with long, dark hair and nice legs."

"Wait, Jay?!" Jay brushed the hair out of his face. "Your vision was Doug in bed with _Jay_?"

Doug finally got a look at the person in bed with him. "Whoa, dude," Jay put his hands up in a sort of defense, "this isn't what it looks like."

Doug's eyes darted between the five people. "Well then can someone explain _why_ I'm in bed with Jay?" Evie nudged Mal forward. "Mal?"

"Okay, so this is kinda, sorta, my fault," she did admit to that. "I was practicing fortune telling on Evie and the guys and had visions. The one for Evie involved you in bed with Jay." He quirked a brow to her. "Alright, we didn't know it was Jay at the time. I couldn't see the other person's face and automatically assumed it was some other woman."

"And I guess me texting them about Melody didn't help," Carlos fessed.

"You believed this?" to everyone's surprise, Doug directed this to his wife.

"Not at first," Evie went over to his side and he helped her sit on the bed. "But Mal was so convinced this was going to happen that she didn't back down. Plus seeing Melody's picture really didn't help. Who wouldn't want to be in bed with her; she's gorgeous."

"_You're_ gorgeous and I only want to be in bed with _you_. Evie, I love you."

"I love you too." Evie was getting emotional. "I guess I let my stupid hormones take over. I knew you wouldn't do anything like this."

"Never," he held her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"This whole thing never would've happened if Mal and I just stayed in Auradon."

"Look at this way: at least you got to do one last big thing before the baby comes."

Evie sniffled. "I guess. I also got to prove Mal wrong."

"Hey!" Mal protested.

"Let her have this one," Ben quietly warned.

Evie struggled to keep her eyes open as she curled up closer to Doug. "Hey," Doug looked around at everyone, "I think Evie and I could use some sleep. Could you guys-"

"Say no more. Come on."

Carlos snickered as he playfully tapped Jay. "Wonder how Gil's gonna react when he learns you were in bed with another man."

"We have an open relationship," Jay wasn't going to give into the teasing. "And you better have washed your hands."

"Jay, Carlos," Mal drew their attention, "I'm sorry I dragged you guys into this."

"It's no big."

Carlos nodded in agreement. "Your intentions were good and we also wanted to make sure this didn't happen."

"Thanks for understanding," she gave them each a goodnight hug. "I'll see you guys later."

"Night, Mal."

"Hey Mal," Jay started, "you really think I'm leggy?"

"Goodnight Jay," Mal sarcastically singsonged as Jay went into his room laughing.

"So much for the opt out," Ben spoke up.

"It still counts: I agreed to opt out of the charity dinner, and I did."

"You really don't like to be proven wrong."

"I will only make one exception, and this one was it."

"So about these visions…"

"It was for one of my classes. I guess I've gotten better since I've practiced. Almost all my visions came true, and really fast too."

"Almost?"

"I practiced on myself before trying it on everyone else."

"And what did the future hold for you?"

"Nothing special; just us kissing during a starry night."

Ben took her by the hand and led her onto the suite's balcony. Upon seeing how beautiful the night sky looked with its many stars shining, Mal gasped. "Nothing special, huh?"

This made Mal giggle. "You seem so sure that mine's going to happen."

With a grin, he held out his hands for her. "What do you see for me?"

Mal playfully smiled as she took his hands in hers, pretending to read his palms. "I see you and I living happily ever after," and they kissed each other under the starry night sky. "Just like in my vision."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? You didn't think this was the end of the story, did you?


	7. Please Never do that Again

Evie and Doug were in the workshop when the knock at the back door came. "It's open!" Evie called to the guest, keeping her eyes on her latest creation while Doug kept his eye on the books.

In stepped Mal. "Mail call for Evie and Doug," she presented a letter to the couple. "Whoa," she noticed the dress, "that's a lot of pearls."

"It's for Doug's Mom."

"Did you forget her birthday or something?"

"Mom's decided to go back on tour with the other Pearlies," Doug informed her. "Evie's making outfits for all five members of the band as her last big to-do project."

"Your mom was in a band?" Mal didn't know this.

"Ever hear of a little song called _'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_'?"

"Your mom knows Mary Poppins?"

"_I_ know Mary Poppins. When she's not traveling to other worlds and dimensions, she's a really fun babysitter—I highly recommend her."

"Dopey met his wife when her band came on tour in their kingdom and needed more pearls for their outfits," Evie clarified. "I guess one's best bet is to get in touch with the guys who mine for diamonds."

"I think I got the musical talent from Mom though. Fun fact: _supercalifragilisticexpialidocious _was also my first word."

"Your dad plays the drums."

"Ah, but that is one instrument that I cannot play."

Mal seemed impressed by these discoveries "That's actually kinda cool to know, Doug." Doug shrugged. "I'm learning something new every day about you."

"It's not like we haven't known each other for years or anything."

"I'm guessing you inherited your father's sense of humor?"

"If we're done with our friendly banter," Evie tried to get back on topic, "what brings the queen to our humble castle?" Mal handed Evie the letter. "It's for both of us, Doug," her husband stood up and went to her side to read over her shoulder. "_Her Royal Highness, Princess Melody, cordially invites Sir Doug and Lady Evie—and their future descendant—to a Royal Reunion to be held on the beach of Prince Eric's kingdom_, yada, yada, yada, inform Melody within a month of receiving the invitation,_ limit three other guests, lots of love_."

"Ben and I are putting in an appearance. Invites have also gone out to Audrey, Chad, and Aladdin and Jasmine's son."

"Aziz," Doug reminded them of his friend's name, "he's the youngest member of our gang."

"Gang?"

"Practically every summer the original six princesses and their kids—or in my case _god_-kid—would get together for a few weeks in Ariel's kingdom. It was me, Chad, Audrey, Melody, Ben, and Aziz."

"That's so sweet," Evie cooed at that. "We have to do that."

"I see no reason why not."

"Should we bring guests?"

"I was actually hoping you guys could bring Jay, Carlos, and Jane," Mal requested. "My invite quota is full."

"Oh?"

"The barrier may be broken, but people still have bad impressions of villain kids and we're working on changing that. So Ben and I took the liberty of inviting Gil, Harry, and Uma."

"And they said yes?"

"It took some persuasion."

"Then we'll be happy to invite Jay, Carlos, and Jane on your behalf."

Mal turned to Doug. "Things aren't as awkward between you and Jay anymore?"

"As long as we never speak of the incident again," Doug replied.

Evie giggled at him before addressing her friend. "Hey Mal, I've been meaning to ask you about your fortune telling; are you still-"

"It's not my thing," Mal interrupted. "I talked to Professor Merlin about what happened, and even he thinks it's best that I never look into the future again because it'll only lead to trouble."

"Amen to that," Doug agreed.

"At least I know I can do it."

Evie considered this. "That's right; all your visions came true."

"Not quite," Mal stepped outside. There was some kind of commotion Doug and Evie couldn't decipher before watching Uma be pushed inside the workshop by Mal.

"Uma?"

"Hey, ya'll, how ya doin'," Uma nervously greeted.

"Ahem," Mal pretended to clear her throat. When Uma didn't move, Mal gently shoved her forward.

"Evie…I was wondering if…nah-uh, can't do this," before she could get out the door, Mal turned her back around.

"You owe me."

Uma took a deep breath. "couldyoumakemeadressforthereunion?" she said that very quietly and very quickly.

"Beg pardon," Evie couldn't understand.

"It sounds like she asked if you could make her a dress for the reunion," Doug translated. The girls all looked at him with various expressions. "Well you try living with Uncle Bashful; see if he talks loud around you."

"Uma, you want me to make you a dress?"

"Yeah, I guess," Uma mumbled under her breath. This made Evie squee with delight and pull Uma in for a hug (as best she could with the baby bump in the way). "Please never do that again."

"I have so many plans for this dress. Here's what I'm visualizing…"

As Evie went into great detail (much to Uma's dismay), Doug went over to Mal. "I have a feeling this is also your doing."

"I have a thing about being right, and I wouldn't be totally right unless _all_ my visions came true." Mal smirked as she saw the displeased face Uma was making. "Even if it means I make them happen."

"Because that doesn't lead to disaster." Mal playfully swatted him. Together, they turned toward the perky Evie and the bitter Uma. "You really saw this happening with Evie and Uma?"

"After what I saw with you, I lied to Evie and told her my vision for her was Uma coming into the shop and asking for a dress."

"Which seems just as unbelievable as what you really saw."

"True: but _that_," she gestured to Evie and Uma, "now that is something even I gotta see."


End file.
